W.S.O.P. TO BAN .NET ONLINE POKER ADS

23 February 2007

Organisers take the safe road....

Moving with the spirit (or lack thereof) of the UIGEA times this week was Harrah's Entertainment, organisers of the World Series of Poker, which has received vast support from the global online poker industry in past years. The Vegas betting giant has decided that logos and advertising of some dot.net sites will no longer be allowed at the key event.

Announcing the ban, World Series of Poker spokesperson Gary Thompson said that Harrah's is banning ads for dot.net sites affiliated with real-money online poker rooms that accept U.S. players; typically the UIEGA-defiant Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Media web sites and player-promotional sites will still be allowed to advertise their .net addresses, however.

"As a gaming company licensed in more than a dozen jurisdictions in the United States and abroad, Harrah's must follow the guidance of federal law and gaming regulators in conducting its business," Thompson said. "In this regard, the 2007 World Series of Poker venue will not contain advertising from dot.com sites that allow access to U.S. residents, nor ads from dot.net sites affiliated with those entities."

Unlike 2006, Harrahs is no longer going to prevent players from wearing their promotional t-shirts, hats and accessories. This will give players a chance to sell space on their body for endorsement money and keep Harrahs' officials from having to duct tape over any controversial .coms.

"We expect to post the 2007 WSOP rules and registration procedures on our website next week that will contain a new logo policy allowing players to wear apparel with dot.net logos, as well as multiple and larger logos." Thompson said.

Thompson would not confirm rumours that the new advertising policy had killed a deal with Full Tilt Poker for the centre piece of felt on the WSOP tables.

"Harrah's has a long-standing policy of not commenting on rumours or speculation. If we do enter into any business agreement with another company, we'll make a public announcement at the appropriate time."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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